The third trimester dawned and quickly proved to be the busiest yet. Which was perfect, because I was getting bigger by the hour, and there’s apparently nothing funnier than a pregnant woman trying to keep up with the rest of the world.
In early July, I packed my bags and drive to Omaha, where my mom, sister, and a friend of ours met me. We grabbed dinner with Grandpa, loaded all of our stuff in my SUV, and the next morning we hit the road for Salt Lake City for the Young Living Global Convention. I tried to argue that I had committed to attending almost a year beforehand, long before I knew I would be pregnant…but that didn’t seem to hold a lot of water with anyone. I questioned my decision daily on that trip, but once it was all said and done, I’m so glad I went. But the details of that trip are for another day.
After convention, we drove like maniacs all the way back to Omaha, NE, grabbed some pizza with grandpa, and I left everyone there to spend the night at the hotel and then drive home to WI, and I hit the road once more, to drive the last 2 1/2 hours home. I honestly don’t even know how I stayed awake on that drive. We left SLC sometime around 8am, and I got home…somewhere around midnight or 1am.
Heading out from Omaha
Scenery on the way out
Swag bag at registration!
Attending the Gala with our lovely Diamond, Ladonna
Outside Global headquarters
Why did I do something so colossally stupid? Well. That’s a good question.
I did it because that Sunday, and John and I were scheduled to leave Wednesday after he got home from work to drive to WI, and I just had way too much to get done before we left to get it done if I drove home Monday. Plus, I had been gone for a week by then, and I was ready to see my hubby and my dog again. So. I did it. And I made it home safe and sound, and got to sleep in my own bed, next to my hubby, for like 3hrs. Which may not sound like much, but it was totally worth it.
Monday was dishes, laundry, unpacking, repacking, and all the napping. Tuesday I had a blessed chiropractor appointment, but when I went out after my appointment to head to the city for my midwife appointment, my car overheated almost as soon as I started it. Now, this is a semi-regular, recurring problem with this car, but the problem was that we were supposed to be driving this car to WI the next evening. So. I called Darcie to let her know I wouldn’t be making it to my appointment, and limped it home to let it cool off.
The next day, we drove a borrowed vehicle to WI so we could spend the rest of the week at EAA AirVenture 2019 with the rest of my family. We got to my parents in the middle of the night, then camped (CAMPED!) the next night. In a tent. Y’all. If you’ve never gone camping in a tent while pregnant, let me be the first to recommend you NEVER do it. Double don’t do it if all you’ve got is a twin mattress for the dog, your hubby, and your big pregnant self. You won’t get any sleep, no matter how tired you are.
We actually had an incredible week (also a story for another day), and then on Sunday we headed home.
This brought us to the end of July, and I was officially entering the 8th month of my pregnancy. You would think that I would slow down at this point, and I did…for most of August. However. At the end of August, we drove back to WI for a baby shower with my friends and family.
By this time, I wasn’t sure how much bigger I could get. I was Ningxia Red®, Sulfurzyme, and AlkaLime® (all from my BFF, Young Living) were my absolute best friends in the world. That, and my couch where I took as many naps as I possibly could.
As August came and went, I kept waiting for that elusive thing called “nesting” that everyone assured me was right around the corner…but it never came. Others assured me that it would hit after our baby shower, because then I would have baby stuff to arrange and organize and play with. That also never happened.
We had two more baby showers in September, first with the lovely ladies from church and then with John’s family. The week after our last baby shower, my mom came down to stay with us until James Louis made his appearance. As it turned out, she didn’t have long to wait. Less than a week after she got here, I was in labor with our little man.
I went into labor on the evening of the 25th, and gave Darcie a heads up that I thought she’d be hearing from me before morning, to which she replied fairly adamantly that it must be false labor and that I should get some sleep. I didn’t. My husband slept like a rock, and I dozed off in between contractions for the duration of the night. In the morning, I called Darcie and hold her it was time to come up to the house, the baby was going to be here today. I’m pretty sure she still didn’t believe me until she got to our house with get assistant and found that I was already dilated to a 6, and this boy was comin’!
Labor slowed down over the course of the afternoon, but after a walk with John, and an hour or so in the labor pool, he was ready. Around 45min later, James Louis pushed his way earthside with his arm up over his face, a hearty, healthy 9lbs., 8oz.
This little guy really didn’t waste any time being born, and he hasn’t slowed down since, either. He is now about 4 1/2 months old, and the absolute light of our lives.
